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cherries-and-smoke · 9 months

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I’ve never been to New Mexico

“Hey mom.” Steve is leaning against the fridge, wrapping the phone chord around his finger. He already wants this conversation to be over.

“Hi Steve,” she grimaces back, as if he’s already done something wrong. She says something about New Mexico, and a business conference and how it’s unbearably hot and Steve is doing what he always does during these phone calls, emotionally detaching so the sting of his parents words don’t cut into his skin.

“You would hate New Mexico.” That snaps him out of it.

“What?” He chokes out. He pretends it doesn’t hurt.

“We’re in the desert, and you can see all these stars from the house we’re staying at and it’s so boring.”

Steve swallows.

Steve wonders how his mother can take the stars in the sky and turn them cold.

And also how she’s so far from knowing him, the real him, that its almost laughable.

“It’s just dreadful here - oh look your fathers home! Don’t get into any trouble Stev-”and the line clicks dead.

Steve shakily sets the phone down and inhales. Part of him wants to rip it off the wall and smash it into a million tiny pieces. He never wants them to contact him again.

The funny thing is that yesterday, Nance, Rob and Eddie had all come over to help him plan their summer road trip. They took some of Erica’s left over My Little Pony stickers and mapped everything out. There was currently a pink pony placed carefully next to Santa Fe on the map. Eddie and Steve had watched as Nancy and Robin launched into an argument about which route they should take and they both ended up covered in unicorn stickers. Eddie and Steve shared a knowing look.

They all needed a break from the upside down. From what happened during spring break. So when Jonothan suggested that the kids spend the summer at Argyles family’s beach house in California, Joyce and Hopper didn’t put up much of a fight. Nancy, Robin, Eddie and Steve were going to meet them and spend the rest of the summer bugging the kids to put on sunscreen and heard them from activity to activity.

Steve loves the kids, he does. He loves the way Dustin always comes to him with his scientific discovery of the day, he loves Erica’s sense of humor, although some manners wouldn’t hurt, he loves the way Will always quietly says thank you, how El says bitchin’, how Mike can always find a way to trip over air. He loves Lucas’s high pitched laugh and the way Max rolls her eyes at Steve when he makes a lame dad joke. But the month long break had been nice. It gave him time to focus on other things.

He was actually looking forward to New Mexico.

His parents always assumed he hated the outdoors because he spent the summers of his childhood locked away inside trying not to bother anyone while his parents fought, or his mom drank too much, or when they inevitably left. Steve wasn’t exactly going to summer camps like other kids his age. Didn’t mean he didn’t want to.

Steve places his hands on the kitchen island and takes a steady breath. He isn’t going to let her get to him.

“Honey I’m homeeeeeee,” Eddie calls out from the entryway. “You would not believe what happened at practice, Gareth had the audacity to fuck up the one so- Eddie freezes and gives Steve a once over. “What’s wrong?”

“Mom called.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“What’d she say?” Eddie steps around the kitchen island and takes both of Steve’s hands in his own. Steve fidgets with Eddie’s rings.

“That I would hate New Mexico,” Steve whispers not even bothering to look up at Eddie.

“She doesn’t even know you, how would she know that?”

Steve’s silent. He wants to travel across the entire country with Eddie, do it all. And secretly he hopes that maybe one day they’d somehow have a family and do it again. Maybe every summer.

Eddie brings Steve’s hands to his face and kisses his knuckles, the sensation grounding him.

“She doesn’t deserve you Stevie.”

Steve gives Eddie a soft smile. Eddie always tells him that. Steve never fully believes him.

“They don’t deserve you,” Eddie leans his forehead against Steve’s when he says it.

“Also, the girls are coming over, we have a surprise for you.”

“What?” Steve says looking up. Eddie just raises an eyebrow and an epiphany crosses his face.

Steve watches as Eddie pats himself down till he finds what he’s looking for. He pulls out his black bandana with a smirk and motions for Steve to turn around.

“Is now really the time?” Steve muses.

“Shut up.”

Steve lets Eddie tie the black bandana around his eyes so everything is pitch black. Eddie carefully guides Steve by his shoulders till they’re standing in his front lawn.

“Eddie what the fuck.”

Eddie giggles.

“Just wait.”

Steve huffs as his boyfriend wraps an arm around the nape of his neck and pokes at his frown till it turns into a smile.

Steve suddenly hears a honk.

A very loud honk that‘s getting closer and closer. Eddie absentmindedly runs his thumb in circles on the back of Steve’s neck.

He hears a pair of footsteps on the hot pavement. “Dingus!!” Steve feels a crash of weight on his side and tries not to let that startle him. He can tell it’s Robin from a mile away.

“What are you guys doing?” Steve says, bandana wrapped tightly around his eyes as Robin squeezes his hand.

“Hey Steve!” Nancy’s voice rings out from across the lawn. He‘s faintly aware something’s jingling in her hand.

“Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you-”

“Robin,” Steve says exasperated.

“I’ll take that as yes.”

“Ok guys on the count of three,” Steve hears Eddie say.

They all inhale and in unison Robin, Nancy and Eddie start counting.

“One. Two. Three.” The bandana comes off.

Parked right in front of Steve’s house is a brand new, state of the art RV. Steve is kind of having trouble breathing.

“Guys…” he trails off.

They all look at him waiting for his reaction.

“Who’s RV is this? It’s really nice.”

Robin groans, Nancy hits her shoulder lightly.

Eddie’s hand is still resting on the back of his neck.

“It’s yours,” Eddie finally says.

That seems to snap Steve out of his daze.

“What?”

“Guys this is too much. I mean look at it!” Steve motions with his hands.

It’s the newest model. Big enough to fit the entire party and more.

“So Steve,” Robin begins, looking up at him hopefully.

“You know how Owen’s gave us all hush money? Well we talked to the kids and we were talking about how much we love you and how much you do for us, and how we want to spend as much time together as we can before the kids leave for college, and you know before we all move and everyone gets separated and how we should start doing family vacations and basically-”

“Robin,” Steve sighs.

“Let me finish! Basically we decided that we want to do family road-trips… every summer.”

Steve drinks in the words “family road-trips.” Sweat is prickling his skin from the Indiana heat.

“And we decided to all pitch in and get an RV, it’s in your name by the way, we want you to have it.”

Steve is at a loss for words. Robin is still waiving her hands around in excitement, Nancy‘s looking at him expectantly and Eddie’s palm is now cemented on his shoulder.

“Why me?”

“Because we love you dingus, duh.”

“Plus we gotta make room for those six little nuggets huh Stevie,” Eddie whispers into his ear with a smile.

Steve lets their words wash over him. He loves them so much. He doesn’t know what he did to deserve them but he’s grateful nonetheless. Steve breaks out into a wide grin and catches Eddie’s gaze.

Robin makes a gagging noise as Nancy presses the RV’s keys into his free hand. The key is dangling from a unicorn keychain.

She smiles. “Wanna see the inside?”

#platonic soulmates stobin #platonic stobin #steddie #stranger things wip #stranger things #stranger things fandom #stranger things fic #stranger things ficlet #fruity four #ronance #found family

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babysitter-of-dingus · 2 years

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“ i DUMP your ass ” - EL

#eleven #jane hopper #el #stranger things #just bitchin #eggos #jim hopper #telekenisis #mike wheeler #80’s vibes #upside down #demogorgon #vecna #mind flayer #dnd #Spotify

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pavlikovskypdf · 2 years

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el "bitchin" hopper, will "i love the clash" byers and mike "i had a crush on eddie munson" wheeler all simultaneously go through a very edgy pseudo-punk phase during which they aggressively paint each other's nails and listen to jonathan's mixtapes together and wear the same thrifted leather jacket everyday

#it only lasts a couple very memorable months though #then they go back to looking colorful and goofy as usual #el hopper #mike wheeler #will byers #byler #elmike #willel #stranger things

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ghosttotheparty · 2 years

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one of us

inspired by this post by @missingexaltation :) also on AO3

Jim Hopper has a bad feeling about this Munson kid.

He’s not really a kid. Hopper knows. Joyce reminds him every chance she gets. He’s not a kid, Hop, he’s twenty-one. You can’t ground him or tell him what to do like he’s El’s age. It makes Hopper feel worse, really.

Especially when he remembers how much Eleven loves him. When she met him, she informed him excitedly that he was bitchin’, which made Eddie laugh out loud. She loves his tattoos, and his heavy rings, and the rips in his jeans. It all makes Hopper grimace.

And it especially make him feel worse that Mike Wheeler likes Eddie. (He and El have broken up, but Hopper still doesn’t particularly like him. He has a soft spot for him just like he does for all the kids, but he’s certainly not his favourite.)

If he’s honest, everybody seems to like Eddie. He gets it, he really does. Eddie is funny, quick-witted in a way that only Erica can challenge. He’s gentle with the kids when they need it, drawing carefully on El’s arm with markers to cover her 011 tattoo, chattering with Will endlessly about that fantasy game they play. He banters with Robin and talks about books with Nancy and makes fun of Steve, who makes fun of him too.

He helps Joyce in the kitchen even though he doesn’t know anything about cooking, even though Joyce tells him he doesn’t have to. He insists.

But Hopper doesn’t like him.

He knows Eddie Munson. He knows his reputation, even before the Vecna-Satanism murder accusations and apart from the fantasy game that everyone in town hates so much. (Hopper knows it’s just a game.)

Eddie Munson always smells faintly of pot, and his clothes always look dirty and ripped and messy. He’s a terrible influence. Mike already has hair as long as Eddie’s, and Dustin’s already starting exclaiming Jesus H Christ the way Eddie does.

Joyce tells him he’s being dramatic, that he needs to give him a chance. But the cop in Hopper can’t leave it alone. So he keeps an eye on him. Every time they’re in the same room, Hopper ends up watching him, carefully observing every move he makes. Eddie sees him looking, and occasionally stares back before looking away with a resigned sigh.

Usually he just ignores him. Continues talking with whoever he’s talking to, goes back to messing with the kids or playing with Robin’s hair.

“You’re staring again,” Joyce whispers softly into his ear, and he startled slightly, looking at her. It’s dark in the living room, but her eyes are shining playfully, reflecting the movie. “He’s not doing anything wrong, Hop.”

He knows she’s right.

Eddie is sitting on the sofa next to Steve, Eleven sitting on the floor between his legs. He’s playing with her short curls. (He insisted that her short hair was also bitchin’. It might have actually made her feel better about it.)

“He looks restless,” he whispers back. Joyce rolls her eyes, looking back at the movie. “I think he wants a fix.”

She shakes her head, looking over at him.

“You’re reading into it,” she whispers. There’s a loud crash on the screen, and Robin jumps where she’s sitting on the floor between Nancy’s legs. Nancy giggles. “That’s just how he is,” Joyce continues. “He’s always fidgeting.”

“Because he does drugs, Joyce.”

“Hop.” She gives him a firm look. He melts. She’s got her hair tied back, her bangs recently trimmed. The light from the movie shifts, sending shadows across her face, accentuating the wrinkles around her eyes before it goes dark for a moment, and in the dark he can just see her face. He remembers sitting in supply closets with her in high school, the flame from his shitty lighter lighting up her face in the dark. He thinks briefly that he’s lucky that he’s known her so long, that he’s gotten to witness every wrinkle on her face come into existence. That he’s gotten to witness her age and watch traces of her years of laughter and sadness and anger smiles make their mark. She’s beautiful. “He’s a good kid,” she says, startling him out of his thoughts.

“…I thought he wasn’t a kid.”

She suppresses a smile and rolls her eyes again, looking back at the movie. He gazes at the side of her face for a moment before he looks back at Eddie.

Or, rather, where Eddie is supposed to be.

Hopper shifts, looking around the room, but Eddie is nowhere to be seen. Eleven is leaning against the sofa, holding Max’s hand as Lucas lays his head in Max’s lap.

“He’s gone,” he says softly to Joyce. She sighs.

“Probably just to the bathroom,” she says dismissively.

“I’ll be right back.” If he catches Eddie doing drugs in his home, he’ll realise hell.

“Oh my god.” She sighs again, shifting so he can lift his arm away from her shoulders, and he gets up, stepping over Mike, who’s fallen asleep with his head on Will’s shoulder.

He checks the bathroom first, but the door is hanging open, the lights off, and he can’t smell anything.

He looks around, the light from the kitchen lighting up the hallway, listening carefully. The stairs always creak, and there’s a part of the landing upstairs that creaks like a haunted house in a low budget horror movie, but he doesn’t hear anything.

Hopper stops, hesitating by the kitchen, when he feels a breeze, and he turns to find the front door hanging ajar.

It’s cold outside. Not freezing, but he’s uncomfortable in just his flannel.

“—just kind of overwhelming,” Eddie’s voice says quietly. Hopper freezes, glancing around.

“I know,” Steve’s voice responds. Hopper tilts his head. He hadn’t even realised that Steve had left too. His voice is low, soft. Almost soothing. “It gets easier, though, I promise.”

Hopper inches across the porch until he gets to the bend, and then he glimpses around it. Steve has Eddie pressed against a banister, his hands on Eddie’s waist, and Eddie is pushing his fingers through his hair. He exhales, closing his eyes. Hopper blinks.

“I’ve never had anything like it,” Eddie says after a moment.

“Like what?” Steve whispers.

Eddie is quiet a moment, looking at Steve in a way that Hopper can only think of a gaze. His eyes flick across Steve’s face, and he gives him a partial smile, pushing his hair back.

“A family, I guess,” he says finally, softly.

Hopper can’t see Steve’s face, but Eddie smiles at the expression he’s giving him, and then Steve is lifting a hand to Eddie’s cheek, and he’s leaning in, and Eddie’s eyes are falling shut, and they’re kissing.

Hopper blinks again, tearing his eyes away after another moment and moving back around the corner, staring out at the driveway. He hears Eddie sigh softly. It’s such a gentle kiss it seems almost out of character for the two of them, so tender and loving that Hopper wonders if everything is okay.

“You ready to go back inside?“ Steve asks softly, and Hopper’s heart palpitates.

“Not yet.”

“Okay.”

It’s quiet again. Hopper takes a moment before he looks back around the corner. They’re wrapped around each other, Eddie’ face buried between Steve’s neck and his own arm, and Steve is murmuring indistinctly, his voice muffled.

Hopper knows he shouldn’t be watching. That this is a private, quiet moment between them. But he can’t look away.

Even when Eddie’s eyes open and meet his. Eddie laughs into Steve’s neck, squeezing his eyes shut, and Hopper’s cheeks flush with embarrassment, but Eddie doesn’t seem to care. Or worry. (Not that he has anything to worry about. Hopper won’t tell anyone. And of course he doesn’t have any problems with it, with the two of them. With this.)

“What is it?” Steve asks, his voice muffled.

“Nothing, sweetheart.” Eddie presses a kiss to Steve’s neck. “Kiss me.”

Steve lifts his head with a soft hum and leans in, kissing Eddie deeply as Eddie lifts a hand to shoo Hopper away.

Hopper rolls his eyes with a smile and sneaks back inside. He pauses in the kitchen, pours himself a glass of water from the tap, thinking.

He knows about Eddie Munson. About his parents. About his uncle.

He goes back to the living room after setting the glass in the sink, sliding his arm around Joyce, who looks up at him with raised eyebrows.

“And?”

He pulls her close, kissing her forehead the way he does every chance he gets, almost mindlessly, habitually, like he’s been doing it for years and years. She relaxes against him, setting a hand against his stomach. He’s gained weight recently. He’s not entirely excited about it, but Joyce is. She likes to slip her hand under his shirts to squeeze and prod lovingly, smiling as he rolls his eyes at her. When he commented that he doesn’t understand why she likes it so much, she said she fell in love with him before he was starved in prison. That he’s beautiful when he’s fed and cared for and living instead of just surviving. No one’s ever called him beautiful before. He could just say Oh..

Eleven is happy about it too. Every time she hugs him, she presses her face into his chest and comments that he doesn’t feel like a wall anymore.

“It’s nothing,” he says, kissing her forehead again. “He just needed some air.”

No one notices when Steve and Eddie come back inside except Hopper and Joyce. Steve passes them silently, going to sit on the sofa again, and Eddie pats Hopper’s chest wordlessly before he joins him. Joyce looks at Hopper questioningly. He just shakes his head with a little smile.

He watches as Eddie leans against Steve, setting his hands in El’s hair again, playing with her curls, pulling them out straight before letting them bounce back into place like rubber bands. Steve sets his hand on Eddie’s leg gently, running his thumb back and forth, and Eddie sighs, relaxing. Hopper smiles.

The kids all sleep in the living room. Erica cuddled between Dustin and Lucas, Max’s head resting on Lucas’s stomach, El’s on Max’s stomach. Mike is holding onto Will’s arm when Hopper pauses in the doorway, looking around as the others leave. Joyce is laying blankets over everyone, making Eleven laugh when a blanket covers her face, and Max fixes it, reaching down to hold her hand.

Hopper realises he’s doing a headcount. He shuts the door as quietly as he can when Joyce leaves.

Nancy and Robin take Eleven’s room, both of them sleepy as they say goodnight. Argyle follows Jonathan to his room. Steve and Eddie take Will’s room, but Eddie hesitates, looking at Hopper.

Hopper tells Joyce to go to bed. He’ll be there in a second. She nods and kisses his cheek.

Eddie is sitting on the counter in the kitchen when Hopper joins him. Hopper leans against the wall across from him. He realises that Eddie is wearing Steve’s clothes.

“So…” Eddie starts awkwardly, twisting one of his rings. “I don’t know what all you saw.”

“I saw enough,” Hopper says. Eddie nods. “It’s not a problem, Munson.”

Eddie smiles bashfully, looking down at his hands.

“Does your uncle know?” Hopper asks as gently as he can. Eddie nods, looking up at him.

“Yeah, he’s always known about me,” Eddie says. “It’s kinda the reason I live with him.” Hopper nods, sympathy knotting in his chest. “He didn’t like Steve at first, but… Steve is good to me. Wayne saw how he helped me after a nightmare a while ago. He likes him now.”

Hopper nods.

“You won’t tell anyone, will you?” Eddie bursts, looking at Hopper with desperate eyes. “Steve doesn’t— He doesn’t want anyone to know yet. Only Robin knows right now.”

“I’m not gonna tell anyone,” Hopper tells him gently. “Don’t worry.”

“Okay.”

“I like Steve,” Hopper declares with a nod. “He’s good with the kids.”

“He good with a lot of things,” Eddie says. Hopper blinks, and Eddie looks up at him, his cheeks flushing. “That sounded… inappropriate, it wasn’t— I just meant, he— he’s real smart. He helped me plan a campaign a while ago, he’s really creative.” Eddie blinks again, inhaling. “Which you also can’t tell anyone, that was a secret— I’m just gonna stop talking.”

Hopper laughs.

Eddie looks startled. A slow smile crawls across his face.

“You’re happy together?” Hopper asks. Eddie nods, still smiling.

“Yes.”

He nods.

He stands up straight, looking at Eddie earnestly.

“You and your uncle ever have any trouble, you let me know, okay?”

Eddie blinks blankly at him.

“I thought you hated me.”

Hopper sighs.

“I’m not your biggest fan—“ Eddie interrupts with a laugh. “I don’t like the tattoos, or the pot, or you encouraging profanity—“

Eddie keeps laughs, covering his face with a hand, and Hopper cracks a smile.

“But you’re still one of us,” Hopper finishes.

Eddie’s smile fades, and he nods.

“Okay.”

His voice wavers. His eyes fill with tears, and then he lowers his face, covering it with his hand again.

“Come here, kid.”

Hopper opens his arms, and Eddie lets himself slide off the counter, and then he’s holding him, smoothing a hand over his hair the way he does to El when she needs comfort.

“So when’s the Byers-Hopper wedding?” Eddie asks when they let go, wiping his face quickly. “I’m invited, right?”

“Go to bed, Munson.”

Eddie snickers and Hopper follows him upstairs.

“I better not hear anything tonight,” he says as they part ways on the landing. He tries to avoid the floorboard that creaks, but it doesn’t work, and he winces.

“Ew.”

“Good night.”

“…Good night.”

———

“Where’d you go?” Steve asks quietly when Eddie enters Will’s room. He shuts the door behind himself gently, turning to look at him. He’s under the blankets, facing the door with an arm folded until his head, almost asleep, his eyes dark and shining in the golden light of the lamp on the bedside table.

“Hanging out with my new best friend, the former chief of police.”

A laugh bursts out of Steve, and Eddie tugs his sweater off as Steve lifts the blankets for him.

“What the fuck?”

Eddie grins, crawling into bed next to him, pressing up against his chest and sighing as Steve combs his hair back, away from his neck.

“He saw us outside.”

Steve’s hand freezes.

“What?”

Eddie moves back to look at him, smiling, and he reaches up to touch his face.

“‘S okay.”

“He didn’t— Was he…”

“He said it’s not a problem,” Eddie says softly, petting his cheek. “And he said he won’t tell anyone.”

Steve stares. Blinks. Exhales.

“Oh.”

Eddie smiles at him and presses a chaste kiss to his lips.

“‘S okay,” he repeats softly. “I think he’s coming around to me.”

“You think?” Steve asks breathily.

“Mhmm.” He kisses him again, relaxing against the pillow. It smells like Will. “Said I’m ‘one of you.’” He gestures quotation marks. “Which kinda makes it sound like a cult, but it’s nice.”

“Guess a cult makes sense,” Steve says softly, sighing and running his hand down Eddie’s forearm, light over his tattoos and scars. “Cult of Vecna and all that.”

Eddie stares at him, wide-eyed, and his smile grows until he’s beaming, and Steve rolls his eyes, his cheeks pink.

“Look at you,” Eddie teases. “Remembering your D&D.”

“You’re telling no one,” Steve says, holding up a finger to point at Eddie’s face, and Eddie giggles, grabbing his hand and bringing it to his lips.

“I’m telling no one.” He kisses his hand again before Steve presses his palm to his cheek. “King Steve’s got a reputation to keep up.”

“Ugh.”

Eddie giggles again, and he presses closer, wrapping his arm around Steve’s neck as Steve lifts his chin so Eddie can nuzzle into his throat.

“Everything’s okay,” he says softly. “Hopper doesn’t care.”

“Everything’s okay,” Steve says, sighing softly. He wraps an arm around Eddie gently, pulling him in tighter and running his hand down his spine. “Eddie.”

“Yeah, baby.”

“…I love you so much.”

Eddie’s eyes fly open, and his fingers run through Steve’s hair again before he pulls away once more, looking into his eyes. Steve looks serious, entirely earnest to the point that he almost looks upset, his eyes flicking across Eddie’s face like he’s trying to read him.

“I love you too,” Eddie breathes.

Steve smiles. He kisses Eddie’s forehead softly, sighing again.

“Light on?”

Eddie nods, tucking his hands against Steve’s chest, curling them just over his heart and letting his eyes close. Steve pulls him close.

“Good night, baby.”

Eddie hums softly, settling against him as he drags his hand over his back. He smiles when Steve kisses the top of his head.

———

Hopper kisses Joyce’s temple as she scrubs a pan in the sink. She smiles up at him.

It’s a lazy morning. Most of the kids are still sleepy, nibbling at their french toast and eggs as they talk quietly. Hopper goes into the living room, rubbing his face, wanting a cigarette.

The kids are everywhere, sprawled across the room, careful not to get syrup on the new carpet. Robin is half asleep, leaning on Argyle’s shoulder, and he holds up a slice of french toast. She takes a bite without moving. Eddie and Steve are on the sofa, talking quietly and gazing at each other like there’s no one else in the world. Erica is asleep on the sofa, her head in Eddie’s lap. One of his arms is set on her shoulder, his hand hovering in the air to block a bright beam of sunlight from her eyes.

Hopper pauses, watching. He doesn’t seem to notice that he’s doing it, protecting Erica so gently, so lovingly. He isn’t even looking, his eyes trained on Steve as he listens to whatever he’s talking about.

Hopper crosses the room, stepping over Will, who’s laying on his stomach, and pulls the curtain almost shut so it blocks the beam of light out. Eddie looks over when he hears the rattle of the rings, and lowers his hand to Erica’s head gently. She nuzzles into his leg.

“Harrington, you want coffee?” Hopper asks as he’s stepping over Will again. He drags a hand across Mike’s face just to mess with him, and Mike almost drops his fork, letting out an indignant Ugh! as he tries to pull his face away. Eleven giggles.

“Uh, yeah,” Steve says, looking startled. His face flushes pink. Hopper wonders in Eddie told him about last night. “Sure.”

“Munson? Coffee?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Dad.”

“Jesus,” Hopper mutters, rolling his eyes as he heads back to the kitchen.

He makes them coffee. Brings it to them and carefully hands it to them, listening to their little thank yous. He ruffles their hair affectionately, and when he leaves, he pauses in the hallway, watching as they whisper to each other quietly and then kiss each other gently, quickly, before anyone sees.

Steve is smiling. The sun is shining.

Maybe Munson isn’t so bad.

#considered making this spicier but i needed a spice break after my last one #maybe next time #probably next time #anyway go drink some water #love u #stranger things #stranger things fic #eddie munson #steve harrington #jim hopper #joyce byers #steddie

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spoodrm4n · 2 years

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I Can Handle It

Inspired by one of @gudfornuthin ‘s posts!!

Pairings: Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader

Summary: The reader goes with Steve and the kids to a basketball game to cheer Lucas on, but one of the boys from her wrestling team that always had a bone to pick with her causes trouble and reader defends her brother.

Warnings: mentions of blood & injury. Reader is a badass.

Word Count: 1.9K

A/N: okay so i like the wrestling idea and it’s been on my mind ever since my first fic so i had to write about it again.

You and Steve walked through the halls of Hawkins high school, on your way to the basketball game to cheer on Lucas with the rest of the kids. You got to the gym doors, hearing the band play and the crowd talking amongst themselves, and Steve handed the doorman a five for the both of you. You entered the gym and smiled as your eyes found Robin in the band playing her trumpet on the edge of the band. A few feet from her were Dustin, Mike, Max, El, and Will. After Hopper had returned, Joyce had moved her family back to Hawkins. Dustin immediately picked you out from the group of people streaming through the doors and waved you over, a huge grin on his face. You nodded to him and got Steve’s attention, pulling him over to the kids. You hiked up the bleachers to them.

“Is this date night?” Mike smirked at the two of you and you rolled your eyes. Mike Wheeler had always been extremely blunt and sarcastic.

“More like babysitting night. It’s not a date if I’m watching you five.” Steve led you behind the five of them, hand on your arm to make sure you didn’t trip on the bleachers.

“Aw you love spending time with us, Steve!” Max stuck her tongue out at him. You looked at Steve and saw a small smile play on his lips. He did love these kids with his whole heart. Hell, he kept their favorite snacks and drinks on hand at his house and he kept cassettes of their favorite songs in his car. Steve loved these kids as much as you did. You had known the kids a bit longer than Steve only because Dustin was your younger brother. You had grown accustomed to driving them around and watching over them before Steve came around.

“Congrats on state, by the way.” Will congratulated, looking up at you and sending you a thumbs up. You smiled back at him. You had been wrestling since freshman year and you had worked hard to get where you were. The boys on the team belittled you nonstop your first year, but as you got better and showed them you were fully capable of handing their asses to them, they warmed up to you. You worked through the school year and all through summer to be the best you could and it had paid off. You were a senior now and you had won all of your matches except one. At your district meet, you had gone undefeated and had won a spot in the state meet.

“Oh yeah! I loved watching you demolish those guys! ” Max gushed. All of the kids, Steve, and Robin had gone to your district meet and had cheered you on the whole time. They had all ran down to you and given you a giant group hug once you had won your qualifying match, earning you a spot at state. They were your biggest fans.

“Bitchin.” El added in. You gave her a pat on the shoulder in thanks, beaming at her. The seven of you sat down and waited for the game to start, small talking about what the kids planned to do after the game. The Hawkins Tigers finally entered the gym and you all waved at Lucas. He found you all in the crowd and waved back quickly before starting his warm ups with the team. You turned to Steve as the kids talked.

“Do you want a water or anything? I think I’m gonna head to the bathroom before the game starts.” You asked, standing up.

“I can just come with you,” he stood up with you, quickly telling the kids where the two of you were heading and asking if they wanted anything. They all shook their heads no and he turned, following you down the bleachers and into the hallway.

“Where do you think they’re plotting to go tonight?” You looked up at Steve and he intertwined your hands. He swung your arm with his as the two of you strolled down the hall.

“If I had to guess, probably the diner we go to after every game.” Steve chuckled as the both of you turned the corner.

“You know how much El likes her waffles.” You shrugged, bumping your shoulders against one another.

“Henderson! Almost didn’t recognize you– you’re actually looking a bit feminine today!” You froze in place, anger seeping into your bones at the voice that had called down the hall behind you. You turned around to face Chris.

You knew Chris from wrestling. He was in your grade and always gave you the hardest time at practice and meets. He was one of the few boys on the team that still had a problem with you being there. He constantly threw insults your way, but it all came from his own insecurities. You were better than him. Better than almost everyone on the team, in fact, and his ego was hurt that a girl was better than him.

“Chris, we aren't at practice. You can call me names and shit tomorrow.” You wanted to seem unbothered, but deep down his comments always hurt. You had told Steve a little bit about your encounters with Chris, but you never went into depth about it. You felt Steve tense up beside you and you squeezed his hand in reassurance.

“You know you don’t even belong on the team. You’re a girl. You belong on the cheer team-- better yet, the kitchen.” Chris spat, walking up to the two of you. He was only a couple feet away now. You clenched your jaw and swallowed the words you wanted to yell at him.

“You say that, but I’m the one going to state. Not you.” Your voice was even, trying your best to seem unbothered by him. You didn’t want to deal with this right now. You just wanted to get back to your brother and his friends and watch Lucas play.

“Only because they feel bad for you. Everyone goes easy on you because no one wants to hit a girl.” He was in your face now.

“Hey man, back up.” Steve was pushing himself in between you and Chris now.

“Steve, it’s fine. Just come on,” you whispered, grabbing Steve by the shoulder and pulling him away. Chris smirked at you, making your stomach flip uneasily and you turned and started to walk away.

“You know… your brother would make a great punching bag.” Before Steve could even get a word out, you spun on your heel and reached Chris within a couple of strides. You saw red. You raised your first and punched him in the jaw, making him stumble back. You grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and yanked him towards you, kneeing him in the crotch. Chris fell to the ground with a yelp, but you weren’t finished yet. You pinned him down and threw punch after punch at his face. His head hit the tile floor with a sickening crack after each hit. You felt Steve’s arms hook under your armpits and pull you off of him and you let him, body sagging against Steve’s chest.

You sat there for a moment against Steve’s chest, chest heaving with adrenaline. You looked at Chris on the floor. His face was bloody and bruised, head lolled to the side, but eyes still trained on you– conscious.

“Don’t you ever talk about my brother like that again or so help me god you’ll wish you were dead.” You spat, eyebrows furrowed and hands shaking with rage. You got to your feet and started down the hall, Steve quickly scrambling after you. You didn’t give Chris another glance as you rounded the corner towards the bathrooms. You pushed open the restroom door and stepped up to one of the sinks. You turned on the water and started scrubbing the blood off of your knuckles.

“You okay?” Steve was leaning against the wall, watching you closely. Concern was etched into his features. He remembered you saying something about one of the jerks on the team and how you always tried to brush off his comments. He had never seen you react like that before– he knew that Chris had crossed a very huge line for you.

You nodded, rinsing off the last of the blood on your hands. “It’s okay when he says that shit to me; I can handle it. Sure, yeah, it hurts sometimes, but it’s not like misogynists aren’t uncommon,” you shrugged, turning the water off. Steve already had paper towels ready for you. He handed them to you and nodded, urging you to continue. “But something inside me just snaps when people say anything about Dustin– or you-- or any of the kids. I can’t stand down when someone’s talking shit or threatening the people I love like that.” You finished, throwing the now damp paper towels in the trash.

“I get that. I’m the same way. If you hadn't thrown the first punch right out of the gate, I think I would’ve.” Steve looked you up and down, taking in your figure. You seemed more calm now, the tension in your shoulders and forehead dissipating. “I’m dating a badass.” He added, grinning at you. You laughed, shaking your head at him. You pulled him towards you, catching his lips with your own. You stayed there for a moment, breathing through your nose and feeling the rest of the stress in your body disappearing as you kissed him. You pulled away from him and quickly pecked him on the cheek. You loved Steve so much. He was a constant for you and you couldn’t be more grateful for him.

“I’m probably going to face the consequences tomorrow.” You sighed. There was no doubt that Chris would snitch on you, but you couldn’t find it in yourself to care. “Let’s enjoy the rest of our night, yeah?” The two of you walked out of the bathroom to be met with five familiar faces standing outside, eavesdropping.

“What the hell are you guys doing?” Steve raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest. They all looked at you, eyes wide and mouths slightly agape.

“You totally beat his ass!” Dustin spoke up, blinking up at you. You cringed, realizing that the kids had either seen or heard what happened.

“Did you guys follow us out?” You groaned, pinching the bridge of your nose and shutting your eyes.

“We may have wanted some snacks.” Mike scratched the back of his neck, eyes avoiding your own.

“So you saw everything?” You frowned, biting you lower lip. You didn’t want the kids to see you act out of line like that. They all stared back at you for a moment in silence.

“Bitchin.” El mumbled, eyes still wide, but an impressed look on her face.

“Come on, I’m sure we’re missing pregame and Robin will whine at us if we miss her trumpet solo.” You shook your head at the five, walking past them and towards the gym.

“My sister is awesome.” You smiled fondly, cheeks heating up at Dustin’s words. You would do anything for him, he had you wrapped around his finger. Steve caught up to you and the two of you listened to the kids gawking over the fight. You and Steve stifled your laughter at their comments. You wouldn’t be living this one down anytime soon.

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x henderson!reader #steve harrington fic #steve harrington #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington fanfic #stranger things #stranger things fic #henderson!reader

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thewrongmoon · 2 years

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El's Possible Queercoding

been meaning to actually documents my findings on this for awhile, so I'm gonna go over some reasons I think its possible that El is gay, specifically just how I think she may be attracted to girls, whether you think that means lesbian, bisexual, pan, etc etc.

El's interest in femininity:

I think to further understand why El has an interest in feminine things, we have to look at how she was raised:

The children in the lab were pretty much stripped of a gender identity entirely. They all had the same haircut and hospital gowns. They all played with the same toys, most of which were puzzle games which have no societally assigned gender. It's worth noting that these short haircuts do have a masculine association (at least in modern western culture) and the kids also pretty much solely interacted with men. Really the only indication of their gender was the pronouns that they used for them.

The concept of different genders acting differently was probably completely foreign to El when she had just escaped the lab. We can see that she tries to strip in front of Mike, Lucas and Dustin and is confused when they all react negatively.

Being surrounded by all this masculinity, seeing someone feminine like Nancy for the first time (or at least the first time in years) is magical to El.

El takes a very quick interest in feminine things. Long hair, pastel colors, dresses...

What sparks more of a queer connotation is her interest in the feminine form. We see her appreciate the ballerina in Nancy's music box, which would very well just be because she thinks the dress is pretty or something, but she also singles out the figure on Mike's trophy.

Obviously I don't mean anything explicit by pointing this out, but as a lesbian I remember having a similar reaction to things like mannequins of women at a young age.

There's definitely a duality of her longing for a childhood where she's able to express her femininity that I don't want to dismiss, though. There's a shot where she stares at Nancy's childhood photos, and it's pretty clear she's wondering what her life would be like if she were raised like a normal girl. That storyline is further explored when she visits the Ives in season 2.

El was also previously not interested in Mike's nerdier hobbies, but when Max shows her comics, specifically ones with female superheroes, El is intrigued. She assumed comics were just about boys at first. We all poke fun at Mike for having a crush on Superman, but maybe we should stop to question if El had a thing for Wonder Woman?

Fashion choices - Mirroring other girls:

A classic quandary for anyone with same-sex attraction. Do I want to be them, or do I want to be with them?

We talk a lot about how Mike tries to wear and do things Eddie does (this was confirmed by the costume department), and how that totally makes it look like he has kind of a crush on him. But what about El?

In season 1 we definitely assume El wants to be Nancy. Her attempts of mirroring her are clumsy and largely influenced by Mike, Dustin and Lucas. After the wig comes off she just gives up, surrendering to her fate of never being "pretty."

In season 2, she wears mostly boys clothes provided by Hopper. The main makeover of this season is done by Kali, who turns El into her mini-me. This time we see El refer to her new look as "bitchin'" rather than "pretty."

Her new look is very punk inspired. Punk subculture has close ties with the LGBT community. As the punk scene is all about questioning/rejecting societal norms, queer people flocked to it.

In season 3, her makeover revolves around Max. While Max tells El to pick something that she likes, El still kind of chooses to resemble Max. In the beginning of s3, her hair looks like this:

But after her trip to the mall with Max, she chooses to part her hair to the right like she does.

They later have both their hair tied up:

Middle parts for both of them:

This is all to say, she mirrors Max's looks, because she likes Max. Not necessarily romantically? And there's also no way to tell if she's doing this consciously. But I feel like there's something in El's brain that just goes "pretty girl = I have to steal her look"

Which brings us to season 4:

Now, there's no makeover scene for her in this one. Disappointing, I know. But she's had a considerable glow up since season 3.

Her hair is now down past her shoulders. Now you may be wondering who her style inspiration is. And the obvious answer is Joyce, because she looks just like her.

But I would actually like to propose an alternative to her hair style inspo:

We can see that Angela pulls up the sides of her hair but still has bangs framing her face, similarly to how El styles hers.

Angela is an awful human being who bullies her, but she's also everything El wants to be: pretty, well dressed, well-liked by the people at school. This is precisely why she chooses her to lie about being friends with. She thinks Angela is cool, so Mike will think El is cool if he sees she's friends with her.

Let's move on to her fashion.

El's style is dependent entirely on layering in this season. But she has one staple in her closet, which we also see in seasons 2 and 3-- flannel.

The wardrobe department head has stated that they specifically wanted it to seem like she was wearing clothes from Will's closet.

Will has always been associated with flannel, wearing it almost exclusively in every season besides season 3. This is interesting because flannel is generally seen as masculine, and gay men are usually stereotyped as more feminine. He does wear those short shorts in s3 though so I guess it balances out idk, this is besides the point, moving on:

Flannels when worn on women are associated closely with lesbians. There is some historical basis here; back when women were first being allowed to wear pants (1940s), lesbians were some of the first to jump on it. Jeans were seen as most normal for women to wear, and flannel was usually paired with it. Flannel was warm, durable and practical. A lot of women in the work force wore it because it held up well. Usually work boots (doc martens in particular) were worn as well, which is why they are also associated with the queer community today (though it was more of a practicality thing than a fashion thing back then.)

From my research, it seems like lesbians wearing flannel became a stereotype in more popular media sometime during the 90s. This doesn't necessarily mean it didn't exist during the 80s, I honestly wish I could find more info on when exactly it became a well-known signifier of lesbians, but alas, I cannot find any good sources. Doesn't change the fact that we as an audience know of it's existence, though.

Wearing flannel definitely makes El stick out from the crowd. It was probably considered really normal in Indiana, where the temperatures are cold, but in California you really have no use for flannel in your wardrobe. The late 80s was also known for it's focus on loud colors and bold prints, which isn't at all like the muted, practical nature of flannel. You would definitely see waaay more men than women wearing it.

So El being seen almost exclusively in more masculine fashions would have probably been one of the points of bullying for her. I think her neurodivergent coding was also a factor, but that's an analysis for another time.

El's bullying: possibly homophobically charged?

So this is the furthest stretch I'm gonna make in this post. But upon noticing how often she wears flannel, I jokingly said in my head, "I wonder if they just saw her constantly wearing flannel and assumed she was a lesbian and that's why they started bullying her." And then I was like oh wait but what if actually that's what it was.

I'm assuming she was probably labeled as a tomboy for just wearing her brother's clothes. But then I began to imagine her interactions with girls like Angela which would have caused their hatred for her.

El has a habit of calling other girls "pretty." One of the first thing she seems to notice about other girls, actually. So imagine that Angela sees this girl in men's clothing, and the first thing El probably does with her is call her pretty. Would it be a stretch to assume Angela may have thought El was hitting on her?

I don't think she was, I honestly don't know if El knows how to hit on someone at all. But the perception of Angela and the school at large could have just been... "Jane is a lesbian."

We see other girls avoiding her. This would be a good reason (not morally, but logically, especially considering the time period) for them to do so.

There's also this line from Angela: (0:09-0:14)

youtube

Now, I first noticed this when editing a completely different video. And I had to rewatch this clip like 50 times to see if I was crazy or not (I still might be, lol.) But, does it not sound like Angela is.. saying "boyfriend" in quotes?

So I went back to rewatch Angela entering the roller rink, and her and her friend group seem surprised that she has a boyfriend. Now this could be just because El is unpopular and has no friends (that they know if.) But just like Ted Wheeler saying "our son with a girl?" could just be a dig at Mike being a nerd, other context makes me wanna look closer into this line.

Did they maybe think El only got a boyfriend to mask her "real" sexuality? It's definitely possible.

Paralleling El to other characters who are queer or labeled as so

This is a point I'm going to need to further expand upon on a later date. But in watching movies off the s4 inspo board, I've found a couple where the characters are meant to parallel El:

Let The Right One In-

I have a whole post on this parallel, if you want to read it.

So basically, El is Oskar in this parallel. Oskar is a character who is bullied for 2 things: being fat (this is better shown in the book the movie is based upon) and being possibly gay (this is also shown better in the book.)

Oskar does end up having a romantic relationship with a character who is gender-nonconforming. Not gonna go into that particular character's exact gender bc it's kind of debatable and their backstory is sad, but the character, in their own words, is "not a girl." Oskar himself seems to be bisexual, again, you could maybe debate this, but he is non-straight at the very least.

The character he's in a relationship with, Eli, has also had their gender identity stripped away from them, which could make another interesting parallel to El, character wise.

Welcome To The Dollhouse-

So this parallel is a bit less concrete, but the only one I could draw from it is that, once again, the main character being bullied is referenced in El's own bullying.

The main character of this film, Dawn, is bullied for two things: being "ugly" and being a lesbian. She is not actually a lesbian, but the kids bully her for being one, and girls avoid her. One goes as far to claim she was "making a pass at her" when all Dawn did was have a conversation with her.

Being paralleled to two different characters who were bullied for being gay is definitely a weird coincidence.

El's relationship with Max:

El has pretty unarguably romantic themes with Max.

It could just be the Duffers trying to break free from a trope, but in S4 Max takes up a damsel in distress role while El takes on a hero role, for like, the 4th time, please give this girl a break omg.

We see both Mike and Lucas attempt to save El/Max, but at the end of the season Max and El save each other. You could say this was with the power of platonic love, but there are some lines that really make you question if it could be something more.

Conclusion:

I feel like El being gay is a theory that has some legs to stand on! You could definitely go even further and find a lot of rainbow imagery with her, maybe some other small details. This was just my own findings.

#el hopper #eleven hopper #jane hopper #byler #elmax #long post #analysis #stranger things #eleven

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